My solicitor has identified a a problem with the lease for the property we are purchasing in St Giles. The seller’s lawyers have offered defective title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our conveyancing practitioner has advised that he must be satisfied that the mortgage company is content with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Finally the sale completed on my house in St Giles last March but our buyer keeps whats apping daily to say their solicitor needs to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done following completion?
After completion of your disposal your solicitor is obliged to forward the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. Where relevant, your conveyancer should also send confirmation that the mortgage has been redeemed to the buyers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion steps specific conveyancing in St Giles.
I own a renovated Edwardian property in St Giles. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in St Giles and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
My partner and I may need to let out our St Giles basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a St Giles conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
Some leases for properties in St Giles do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.
I am the leaseholder of a ground floor flat in St Giles. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for a lease extension?
Where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Giles property is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 66.8 years.
Me and my husband are disposing of a St Giles bungalow left to us some years ago in 2011. I have over a decades worth of conveyancing know-how and, although retired, see no reason not to do the legal work. The purchaser's property lawyer has informed me that their bank will not allow you to do your own conveyancing mandating that the funds to be transferred to a solicitor's bank account.
Lending requirements to solicitors from all mainstream lenders specify that If the vendor is not legally represented the buyer’s lawyers should check whether the lender needs to be notified so that a decision can be reached as to whether or not they are willing to proceed.